Mitsubishi Eclipse 3dr Cpe Auto Gs on 2040-cars

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Mitsubishi denies plans for Toyota/Subaru rival sports coupe

Forgive us for being wistful, but there was a time when Mitsubishi coupes and sports cars were the downright awesome. The 1990s brought us the all-wheel drive, turbocharged Eclipse GSX and the twin-turbocharged 3000GT VR-4 (seen here). The times, they were good.
Fast-forward to today, and the Lancer Evolution exists as Mitsubishi's sole, true performance offering. Mitsubishi killed off the Eclipse last year, by which time it had lost much the luster of its predecessors. With an affordable Japanese sports car fomenting underway thanks to Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ, one may think that it's an ideal time for a brand like Mitsubishi to jump back into the performance coupe game. A rear-drive Mitsubishi sports car to take on the Toyobaru twins could be just what the brand needs to gain some mindshare among consumers.
Not so, says Osamu Masuko. The president and executive director of Mitsubishi told reporters at the Sydney Motor Show, "Our engineers are very prominent to investigate new technologies, but to use that technology they are not that good to bring the revenue to make that money." Read: the engineers want to do it, but the company does not find it to be financially responsible.

Daimler declares success in electric truck trial [w/video]

Last year, Daimler launched a project to see how eight Fuso Canter E-Cells performed in daily urban service in Portugal. After over 32,000 miles on the road, the newly released results showed astounding figures. Compared to their diesel-counterparts, the commercial EVs slashed operating costs by 64 percent. The trucks were also great for the environment with a 37-percent drop in CO2 emissions after taking into account how the country makes power. Daimler gave the trucks to Portuguese cities and businesses, and the users definitely didn't baby them. In Lisbon, the EV disposed of vegetation, and the Canter E-Cell collected recyclables in Porto. The one with the parcel service Transporta covered over 8,700 miles to make deliveries during the year. On average, the testers used the vehicles about 31 miles a day, but 68 miles was the record distance during the trial. "The results of the practical tests have shown that we are on the right track," Marc Llistosella, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation said in Daimler's announcement. The Daimler Trucks Centre of Competence for Hybrid Technology developed the small run of Canter E-Cells. The models ditch the usual 3.0-liter diesel in favor of an electric motor that produces 148 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque. Four lithium-ion battery packs with a total of 48.4 kWh are mounted to two sides of the frame. To maximize the range, the system begins recovering energy as soon as the driver lets off the throttle. Check out the video below for a look at how the Portuguese testers put the commercial EVs through their paces. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Silent and with zero emissions Stuttgart/Porto, Oct 30, 2015 FUSO Canter E-Cell impresses with more than 50,000 kilometres driven 64 percent lower costs compared with conventional diesel engines in customer field trials in Portugal Powerful, high-torque electric motor Targeted operating range of at least 100 kilometres achieved Stuttgart/Porto – 64 percent savings in operating costs - this is the gratifying result of the final analysis of data from customer field trials with eight FUSO Canter E-Cell trucks in Portugal. Apart from the impressive savings in operating costs, the Canter E-Cell also scores points in terms of environmental aspects.

Renault board names Ghosn stand-ins, as tensions with Nissan increase

PARIS/TOKYO — French carmaker Renault tapped its chief operating officer and a senior board member to fill in for embattled boss Carlos Ghosn, after an investigation by alliance partner Nissan led to his arrest on suspicion of financial misconduct. Thierry Bollore, Ghosn's operational second-in-command, will become deputy chief executive, while lead independent director Philippe Lagayette assumes the function of interim chairman, Renault said after a board meeting late on Tuesday. But the board refrained from firing Ghosn while awaiting more detail on the allegations — in a decision that could also buy more time for an accelerated, permanent succession process. "Mr. Ghosn, temporarily incapacitated, remains Chairman and Chief Executive Officer," Renault said in a statement. "During this period, the board will meet on a regular basis under the chairmanship of the lead independent director." Ghosn, one of the car industry's best-known leaders, was arrested on Monday after Nissan said he had engaged in years of wrongdoing, including personal use of company money and under-reported earnings. The Japanese company plans to remove him as chairman on Thursday. The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, had begun to distance itself from Ghosn, calling for new interim leadership before the meeting, as the Japanese investigation expanded to include Renault-Nissan alliance finances. "Carlos Ghosn is no longer in a position where he is capable of leading Renault," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said earlier in the day. "Renault has been weakened, which makes it all the more necessary to act quickly." Statements by Le Maire, Renault and its board all echoed French preoccupations over the future of the alliance first articulated by President Emmanuel Macron within hours of Ghosn's arrest on Monday. Following talks between Le Maire and his Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko on Tuesday, the ministers reaffirmed their "shared wish to maintain this winning cooperation." But in a sign that Nissan may now seek to loosen its French parent's hold on the partnership, the Japanese company informed Renault it also had evidence of potential wrongdoing at Renault-Nissan BV, the Dutch venture overseeing alliance operations under Renault's ultimate control, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.